Nepal: UN condemns use of deadly police force

United Nations human rights officials
in Nepal today called the use of deadly police force against
unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators “inexcusable” and said
the Government had violated agreements by banning the
deployment of UN monitoring teams during the curfew it had
imposed.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR) bureau in Kathmandu, the capital, reported
that tens of thousands of demonstrators against King
Gyanendra’s suspension of parliamentary rule challenged the
curfew around the country and three people were killed as a
result of use of deadly force by police.

The use of such
force against unarmed civilians is without justification and
inexcusable, it added.

Following the delivery of a letter
from High Commissioner Louise Arbour, the Nepalese chief of
staff promised that UN staff would be given curfew passes
for tomorrow, a UN spokesman said. But today’s ban prevented
UN teams from fulfilling their work in monitoring and
playing a restraining role both with demonstrators and
security forces.

Earlier today, OHCHR spokesman in Nepal
Kieran Dwyer said the denial of curfew passes was “a clear
violation” of the agreement between the OHCHR and the
Government setting out the mandate the Nepal office which
“provides that OHCHR-Nepal shall have ‘freedom of movement …
throughout Nepal’.”

Also today, a group of independent UN
human rights experts added their voices to the rising chorus
against the excessive use of force and called on the
Government to exercise restraint and guarantee fundamental
rights for all.

Their statement they voicing “grave
concern” followed a call by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
last week for King Gyanendra to take “courageous steps” to
find a way avoid further bloodshed. Mr. Annan has been
calling for the restoration of “democratic freedoms and
institutions” ever since King Gyanendra dissolved
parliament, imposed a state of emergency and suspended civil
liberties in February 2005.

“The law enforcement agencies
have resorted to indiscriminate firing of rubber bullets -
even on occasion live ammunition - into crowds, beatings,
raids on homes and destruction of property. Scores of
bystanders and demonstrators, including women, children,
journalists and lawyers have been identified among the
casualties,” the experts said.

They urged the Government
to guarantee fundamental human rights for all, including the
rights to life, physical and psychological integrity,
freedom from arbitrary detention, and the freedom of
opinion, expression, association, and assembly.

The
experts included Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions; Hina Jilani,
Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human
Rights Defenders; Ambeyi Ligabo, Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion
and expression; Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on
Torture; and Leïla Zerrougui, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Special Rapporteurs
are unpaid experts serving in an independent personal
capacity who received their mandate from the now defunct UN
Commission on Human Rights. They will now report to the
newly established and enhanced Human Rights Council.

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